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Overpaid KPA contractors to refund Sh200m

Kenya Ports Authority
.In what appears to be a new strategy, the government will be asking contractors who undertook two concrete works for Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to refund Sh200 million to the National Treasury – after it emerged that even the parent ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has disowned two KPA projects.
“We shall be asking them to refund the excess cash paid to them,” said a source privy to the investigations.
The National Treasury and the parent ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Urban Development have disowned the controversial Sh2.7 billion projects likely to leave the Dr Daniel Manduku-led parastatal getting the short end of the stick.
In a new letter dated December 5, 2019, the Transport Principal Secretary Esther Koimett admits that although they approved the budget at the ministry level, they did not get any concurrence, from National Treasury.
A letter dated November 22, 2019, and signed by National Treasury Principal Secretary Julius Muia, said that the money was spent before approval of the supplementary budget – which leaves the KPA bosses in a quandary.
WASTAGE OF RESOURCES
Under the Public Finance Management Act, the National Treasury has the final say on the approval of budgets to procure such services.
As the investigations continue, two final evaluation reports – part of the ongoing investigations about irregular tenders at KPA, indicate that the Nairobi Makongeni assignment was not only unprocedural but that “some items were paid for and yet some works were not done”.
It identifies those items as “cement stabilised coral rags, dowel greased joints and dowell capped joints”.
It also found that the total area of concreted yard is 20,486 square metres while the contracted area was 25,835 square metres.
The technical team had been appointed by Maj Gen (Rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa, the Principal Secretary, State Department of Public Works, after a request by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
In their conclusion, the technical team reported that “there was no value for money paid. The value of work done amounted to Sh349.2 million against a payment of Sh480 million. There was an overpayment of Sh125 million. We shall recover these amount from the contractors,” said our source.
INCOMPLETE WORK
The team also found that two of the contractors, Jumbo Interlinks and Haafah East Africa, awarded contracts for zones 8 and 9 have partially completed their work – although they had been fully paid.
The technical team has recommended that KPA should also withhold all retention monies and performance bonds until the investigation is complete.
It has also to ensure that all performance bonds are active within the duration of the probe, and that contractors for Zones 8 and 9 complete their work since they have already been fully paid.
And in her letter to the DCI George Kinoti, Dr Koimett says that National Treasury did not approve the 2018/2019 supplementary budget.
On the controversial Kisumu Port revitalisation, she says that although this was as a result of a presidential directive communicated to KPA on January 29, 2019, “KPA was to undertake the project within the legal provisions governing procurement”.
SHADY TENDERING
Another technical team that has evaluated the Kisumu Port project has recommended that the overpayment be recovered in the subsequent payments for the four contractors when they embark on phase 2. The total tabulated overpayment is Sh57 million.
The contractors told investigators that they were waiting for the official launch of phase one by the President before embarking on phase 2.
But the technical team has also raised concern about the workmanship highlighting several defects.
“The concrete slab workmanship is poor and surface finishing was not consistent within and between the various contractors,” says the report.
Also the technical team has said there was “no evidence” of competitive bidding, and they found that the works had been priced by KPA and directly awarded to the contractors – an anomaly that may turn to haunt KPA managers.
The technical team has demanded that KPA officials should provide evidence of “Area D”, which exists on paper but not on the ground.
This, according to investigators, had been awarded to a contractor named Yuaf Agencies. It is not clear if any money had been paid.

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